EVOLT'S Guide to Becoming a Merchant

[nmyxspaceship]

Very helpful

[Lucilulu]

EVOLT, as a fellow merchant/trader, I would like to say job well done. A few things I would like to reinforce.

1. Do not be afraid to buy: I think this is one that gets most people. Yes u do have to know prices in order to know when the time and price are right, but if they are, BUY! and as EVOLT said, buy them all.

1a. (I would like to add) Be aware of how long it will take to sell: I believe this is something that many inexperienced traders overlook. Just because an item may be ultra rare and just because it may be worth a pretty penny does not mean it will sell right away. I have a rule, if I do not feel I can make 25% and sell within a week, then I will not purchase (the sell within a week is just as important as making 25%). The longer an item sits in inventory the less ur actual real rate of return is. I would much rather buy 10 voodoo dolls at 500k (50k apiece) and turn them over ten times making 15k a sale in a week doing this 4 x a month (600k total profit minus listing fees) then buy one green ice item for 500k and have to sit on it a month selling at 750k. Yes I make more on the green ice but once u factor in the time in inventory, the profit is not so great.

2. Keep track of your true item cost: If u use CS as a way to sell, you will need to keep in mind it will cost u quite a bit to list each item. I currently have approximately 250 CS slots. It can cost me as much as 300k just to list all 250 of my items. Each time an item listed does not sell I have now increased my cost of that item by the listing fee price. Do this a few times and your profit is gone.

3. Follow EVOLT's advise and give back: one of the best things about being as successful merchant is your ability to help others. Yes, all the begging does get frustrating at times and you do feel singled out once you've been dubbed a successful trader (hard not to be, people see the items u have), but it is very rewarding to be able to help the deserving players that really are appreciative. At this point, I only keep an adequate supply of gold to allow for continued merchanting and give away anything above that on a weekly basis.

Finally, as a former successful hedge fund manager (think stock, bond and commodity trading on a large scale for those who don't know what that is) I can tell any of you who may have an interest in getting into some sort of business some day that becoming a PL/SL merchant/trader (successful) and learning the ends and outs of the game the way EVOLT has can only help prepare you for what's to come in your true life business affairs. There is definitely true life application that I believe any good business man or women could appreciate.

Again thanks EVOLT for a very good guide!

Dopeydaddy - lvl 56 arch
Lucilulu - lvl 56 Mage

Main Traders: dopesback, dopesscndtake

[Zeus]

EVOLT, great guide. I have a a few tips to add to it myself, unsure if they are mentioned already; I read through the entire thing but my memory is a bit forgetful every now and then.

Anyways, what I have often tried doing and has worked well for me is buy out the entire demand. Anything that lists, buy. Then, when people start noticing the shortage on it, human instinct makes them want to have it. I do this normally with holiday pinks, it takes about a month to implement, but once it is done, I make anywhere for 100-300k profit PER pink. This merchanting is a beat cheap and of course, is not for the merchant that is not willing to take risks (Every merchant needs to be a risk taker).

Twink items; These are great. Examples: Keep an eye out for those cheap artisan leathers going for 40k and experts leathers going for 60k. Level 5 of course, repeatedly stack up on those and sell them back for a 15-20k profit a few days later.

[Mothwing]

Evolt, you just made my day. *SIGH* TYVM!!!!! imma try n be a merchant now

[AdinoEznite]

EVOLT, great guide. I have a a few tips to add to it myself, unsure if they are mentioned already; I read through the entire thing but my memory is a bit forgetful every now and then.

Anyways, what I have often tried doing and has worked well for me is buy out the entire demand. Anything that lists, buy. Then, when people start noticing the shortage on it, human instinct makes them want to have it. I do this normally with holiday pinks, it takes about a month to implement, but once it is done, I make anywhere for 100-300k profit PER pink. This merchanting is a beat cheap and of course, is not for the merchant that is not willing to take risks (Every merchant needs to be a risk taker).

wow that never occurred to me haha of course u have to have the capital to do that (;
ive been doing pretty well mech-ing i think, ive been playing PL for maybe 6 weeks now and ive probably made ~3 million in total

wish i could have met you guys (Evolt/Apollo) ig towards the beginning, maybe the first 2-3 weeks i spend trying to figure out stuff would have gone faster

my current problem is not progressing through the game enough to know what other items are good to sell since my highest lvl is only 31 haha


in any case great guide Evolt

[Udiemorenoob]

Awesome guide evolt allthough i think ima keep selling items under cs prices i make plenty this way. Of course thats because most the items i sell i get for 5k- ima lucky guy what can i say.
P.s. Thanks for the copperhead plate 8D

[Udiemorenoob]

Awesome guide evolt allthough i think ima keep selling items under cs prices i make plenty this way. Of course thats because most the items i sell i get for 5k- ima lucky guy what can i say.
P.s. Thanks for the copperhead plate 8D

[Prest87]

Thx 4 the guide!

[Evolt]

EVOLT, great guide. I have a a few tips to add to it myself, unsure if they are mentioned already; I read through the entire thing but my memory is a bit forgetful every now and then.

Anyways, what I have often tried doing and has worked well for me is buy out the entire demand. Anything that lists, buy. Then, when people start noticing the shortage on it, human instinct makes them want to have it. I do this normally with holiday pinks, it takes about a month to implement, but once it is done, I make anywhere for 100-300k profit PER pink. This merchanting is a beat cheap and of course, is not for the merchant that is not willing to take risks (Every merchant needs to be a risk taker).

Twink items; These are great. Examples: Keep an eye out for those cheap artisan leathers going for 40k and experts leathers going for 60k. Level 5 of course, repeatedly stack up on those and sell them back for a 15-20k profit a few days later.

I agree. I do it sometimes as well, just buy out every item available that are listed below my selling price. I'm not as successful as you are pulling this move. I couldn't say that I've made much from using this strategy.

Another thing I've tried is to list a hugh lot (15+) of a single item below market price or my purchasing price, just to push the price down, so I can buy it for even cheaper. IT WORKS!

[Evolt]

EVOLT, as a fellow merchant/trader, I would like to say job well done. A few things I would like to reinforce.

1. Do not be afraid to buy: I think this is one that gets most people. Yes u do have to know prices in order to know when the time and price are right, but if they are, BUY! and as EVOLT said, buy them all.

1a. (I would like to add) Be aware of how long it will take to sell: I believe this is something that many inexperienced traders overlook. Just because an item may be ultra rare and just because it may be worth a pretty penny does not mean it will sell right away. I have a rule, if I do not feel I can make 25% and sell within a week, then I will not purchase (the sell within a week is just as important as making 25%). The longer an item sits in inventory the less ur actual real rate of return is. I would much rather buy 10 voodoo dolls at 500k (50k apiece) and turn them over ten times making 15k a sale in a week doing this 4 x a month (600k total profit minus listing fees) then buy one green ice item for 500k and have to sit on it a month selling at 750k. Yes I make more on the green ice but once u factor in the time in inventory, the profit is not so great.

2. Keep track of your true item cost: If u use CS as a way to sell, you will need to keep in mind it will cost u quite a bit to list each item. I currently have approximately 250 CS slots. It can cost me as much as 300k just to list all 250 of my items. Each time an item listed does not sell I have now increased my cost of that item by the listing fee price. Do this a few times and your profit is gone.

3. Follow EVOLT's advise and give back: one of the best things about being as successful merchant is your ability to help others. Yes, all the begging does get frustrating at times and you do feel singled out once you've been dubbed a successful trader (hard not to be, people see the items u have), but it is very rewarding to be able to help the deserving players that really are appreciative. At this point, I only keep an adequate supply of gold to allow for continued merchanting and give away anything above that on a weekly basis.

Finally, as a former successful hedge fund manager (think stock, bond and commodity trading on a large scale for those who don't know what that is) I can tell any of you who may have an interest in getting into some sort of business some day that becoming a PL/SL merchant/trader (successful) and learning the ends and outs of the game the way EVOLT has can only help prepare you for what's to come in your true life business affairs. There is definitely true life application that I believe any good business man or women could appreciate.

Again thanks EVOLT for a very good guide!

Dopeydaddy - lvl 56 arch
Lucilulu - lvl 56 Mage

Main Traders: dopesback, dopesscndtake

Great input! Wow, 250 slots?! How long does it take you to list your items? With 130 slots, it takes me about 10- 15 minutes each time.

Regarding the listing time, for most of my items, I would list it for 3 days, depending on the turnaround time for each item. Yes, players have to pay attention to how long it takes to sell an item because your profit margin will drop as time goes by. Relisting an item is expensive and if you notice some of your items cannot sell at your set price, then reduce your prices or stop selling that item for a while. I rarely list items for 11 hours because I don't like to undercut prices in CS and I sell items at a set price. Unless you undercut prices, it would be hard to sell an item in less than 11 hours. Players around the world with different timezones will log on at a different time of the day. Listing an item for 23 hours will guarantee you that the item will be exposed to different "markets".

When I farm, I never farm with high level players or experienced players. The only reason is because experienced players know which drop is good and which is not. "Newer" players often don't know the market prices for the items they get from drops. Buying rare drops from them is easy $$$. Simliar to CS, for starters, you should start merchanting at lower levels. Many players at low levels just want to list an item to liquidate for buying potions, they do not list an item in CS to make "profit", therefore "goodies" can be more likely found at lower levels.

[Twinkman]

Nice info. Btw u should pvp my voodoo mage sometime

[Lucilulu]

Great input! Wow, 250 slots?! How long does it take you to list your items? With 130 slots, it takes me about 10- 15 minutes each time.

Regarding the listing time, for most of my items, I would list it for 3 days, depending on the turnaround time for each item. Yes, players have to pay attention to how long it takes to sell an item because your profit margin will drop as time goes by. Relisting an item is expensive and if you notice some of your items cannot sell at your set price, then reduce your prices or stop selling that item for a while. I rarely list items for 11 hours because I don't like to undercut prices in CS and I sell items at a set price. Unless you undercut prices, it would be hard to sell an item in less than 11 hours. Players around the world with different timezones will log on at a different time of the day. Listing an item for 23 hours will guarantee you that the item will be exposed to different "markets".

When I farm, I never farm with high level players or experienced players. The only reason is because experienced players know which drop is good and which is not. "Newer" players often don't know the market prices for the items they get from drops. Buying rare drops from them is easy $$$. Simliar to CS, for starters, you should start merchanting at lower levels. Many players at low levels just want to list an item to liquidate for buying potions, they do not list an item in CS to make "profit", therefore "goodies" can be more likely found at lower levels.

I have a feeling making the easy money of the past may have just got harder. Next time leave out a few of our secrets

[Singleteddy]

when you put an item up for auction, do you always choose the 3 days 1000 gold option? if not, what makes you choose otherwise, and what contributes to the decision?

whats your opinion on purple items? as in how much do they have to be worth to waste time/gold/slot selling them in cs compared to liquidating them?

awesome guide btw thank you.

You can do a little math and come up with the following stats for various listing prices:

• 2k- g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 41% or better (41% or better chance to sell within those 23hrs)
• 5k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 44+%
• 10k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 47%
• 20k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 53+%
• 30k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 57+%
• 50k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 64+%
• 100k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 74+%
• 200k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 83+%
• 500k g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 92+%
• 1M g: 23hr listing is better than 3day if chance to sell listing is 95+%

The chart shows that shorter listing times are better for easy-to-sell items and for cheap items. Longer listing times are better for more expensive items and for harder-to-sell items.

The specific stats above assume that chances of selling items each hour is constant, which of course is NOT true. There are hot/cold selling times during the day and week. They also do not take into account that time is money: if you list for shorter periods, you will be spending more time in the CS instead of out farming or playing and making money that way.

Awesome guide evolt allthough i think ima keep selling items under cs prices i make plenty this way.

I'm happy to buy your items anytime.

[Fyrce]

Actually most players will never read the forums and even fewer will think to do merchanting and therefore read this thread. Most who read this thread will lose money. There really will not be that many that will be serious competition.

[KNOW_BRAINER]

sweet guide. i actually started folowing this guide before it was created. i figured selling lower level pinks cuz i saw evolt selling a bunch. especially the weird levels like 37 or 28 and captialized. i hope a lot of people dont see this guide. heehee

[Rubikin]

Great post Evolt! Thanks for such a helpful guide. I started merchanting at a low lvl just focusing on a few items, and trying to make good trades. I'm not super loaded, but it has let me afford most of the items I've wanted as I've lvl'd up, with a nice cushion to spare. I think something to notice is who else is merchanting the same items and what their tendencies are. Sometimes a new person will get into the same item, and I find that I might have to slightly adjust my pricing or timing strategy.

[stevieoopsie]

Great guide on trading, has a lot of real life applications too.

One of the things that I can point out though, just like Evolt said, you can have different strategies when it comes to trading and there is no right answer to what will yield the highest returns.

I think you can either be walmart and offer discounts through massive bargaining power over suppliers, or bestbuy and try to get a fat markup and offer above the market, depending on the scale of your operations. A practical strategy for those with 200, 300 slots is to deploy the Wal-mart strategy- buy things in packs from people that do not have slots and want their items gone at a bargain. The more you buy the less you average cost you pay. It is often extremely easy to buy pinks at discounts in the 50s from the "black market" in massive numbers. This way I would recommend that you try to increase your inventory turnover as much as possible by offering reasonable bargains in cs (15%-30% discount still means 17%- 34% net margin - after commissions).

The advantages of this strategy are obvious - first you have less money tied up in working capital - inventory that you cannot hedge especially !

Second since you sell faster at a discount, you pay less commission costs by using shorter auction time.

Third a high turnover means you can redeploy your slots for more inventory - if you can do this skillfully sometimes you get a much higher net return than reselling your items at "reasonable" prices and waiting longer for them to sell. Faster sales also mean that rapid shifts in market sentiment won't affect your sales figures as much.

Fourth, you have a much higher margin for safety - selling at bargain is much less risky than selling at market prevalent prices.

Like I said, this strategy might only work for me but it's just my 2 cents on trading. The Wal-mart model has been tested for many decades and even today is unmatchable. (inventory turnover at Walmart is 12 - versus below 9 for Bestbuy) and I think it's a model that a lot of people can adapt having developed the proper scale

[Falking]

I should have hired you guys for my economics class

[Lucilulu]

I should have hired you guys for my economics class

I've been a guest speaker at a number of economics classes

[13lacklegionz]

Hahahaha! I was reading Hunzzz's thread about the game while forums were down. While I was reading his post to counter the people who accused him of scamming, I noticed his merchanting guide. In his guide, I noticed this guide. I read his guide first, and then this one, and that's how I came here...

Anyways, awesome guide!